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District 201 V2 East Timor Project

District Cabinet Chairman V2 East Timor Project

Past District Governor Derek Challis

East Timor Project Annual Report for 2005-2006

As result of a majority of the clubs in District 201V2 contributing a voluntary $9.00 per member from their activities account and a grant from LCIF of $10,600.00 the project in Viqueque East Timor has continued very successfully in the 2005-2006 year.

During October 2005 I travelled to East Timor and had meetings with various senior members of the Government to assist in the continuation of the project. Maria Alves, the Liaison Officer for Christian College Geelong, who is now Lion Maria of the Lions Club of Geelong, assisted me.

SCHOOLS

During the year a three-classroom school at the village of Wee-saw and a large junior school at Uma-kiik were restored to some semblance of decency. The school at Wiamori was almost completed on the April-May 2006 trip thanks to the great efforts of Lion Don Everett of the Ocean Grove-Barwon Heads Club. The small amount of remaining work on this building will be completed by the volunteer youths in Viqueque in the coming months.

LIONS SPECTACLE SUPPLY

During the April–May trip Mrs Victoria Bekir, an optometrist from Sydney travelled with the working party and screened 350 children, and tested over 150 adults. 150 pairs of glasses were prescribed and delivered, and 22 cases of cataracts were detected.  Lion Dr John Kearney from Queensland will operate on the cataracts in August 2006 at the Bacau Hospital.  The District 201V2 Lions will fund the transportation and accommodation of the patients, and this will cost about $500.00

OTHER MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

MASSAGE COURSE

A Melbourne physiotherapist Sally Maple travelled with the party and over eleven days taught 6 East Timorese men and women massage. The benefit to the community is two-fold in that the doctor in the village can now refer patients with muscle injuries to a person with some western training, and the masseurs can charge for their service, therefore creating micro-businesses in the village.

PODIATRIST

Heather Game a Barwon Health podiatrist also travelled to Viqueque.  We had difficulty notifying the local villages of her availability, doing so by broadcasting the messages via speakers on the local ambulance.  This didn’t happen immediately due to many days of monsoon rains, and the roads being impassable. While waiting for the news to get out about the services she offered, Heather treated crocodile bites on the back of a youth, as well as boils on many people (situated on many and various parts of the body!)  When her fame spread she did a great amount of podiatry, still finding time to remove stitches and dress wounds from machetes.

Both Heather and Sally in their spare time painted the new doors installed at the Wiamori School.

FUTURE POSSIBLE PROJECTS

DENTISTRY

The clinic in Viqueque has a male dental nurse but only has equipment for extractions.  Dr Dan Hurley of Geelong is committed to traveling to Viqueque to teach the nurse how to do fillings -- Asian style. This will occur in the next 12 months. 

Another school has been selected for repair during our next trip, and we are trying, in conjunction with Rotary International to supply another 20 urgently needed hospital beds to the hospital.

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